Meter



May 8, 1928. 1,669,315

1' J. H. wlssms IETER Filed May 31, 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 8, 1928. I

. J. H. WIGGINS METER 4 Filed May 31, 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 May s, 1928.

- J. H. WIGGINS METER Filed May 31, 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 (1110': we qPatented May 8, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

' :omr may 'wr'eems, or marmsvmm, omnoiu.

Application filed lay :1, 1922. semi ll'o. 504,855.

of liquid actuated by the rotation of the' rotor.

The rotor is provided with paddles or blades which fit closely withinthe casing and it is preferably buoyant and mounted with 1 its center oraxis arranged above the liquid level. The construction of the rotor issuch that friction is reduced to a minimum and the meter does notinterfere with the uninterrupted flow of liquid in the system. i Themeter .casing is rovided with an inlet opening and an out et openingwith the inlet arranged at a higher level than the outlet, whereby theliquid will flow by gravity due to the difference in static pressure atthe inlet and outlet ends.

I further provide automatic means for controlling the amount of liquidin the meter casing at all times and preferably cut off the supply ofliquid when the level at the inlet end exceeds a predetermined point.Any suitable means may be employed for re istering the flow of liquid,but I. preferably employ'an electrically actuated register having a pairof spaced contacts mounted 85 in the meter casing and adapted to bebridgsd by the movable contact carried by the rotor whereby the circuitwill be closed upon each revolution of the rotor and a record madethereof.

In the accompan ing drawings, I. have shown several embo iments of theinvention. In this showing:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a motor vehicle showin theinvention applied thereto, parts being s ownin section, igure 2 is avertical longitudinal sectional view of the meter casing when inoperation, Figure 31s atransverse sectional view on line 3- -3 of Figure2, p

Figure 4 is a similar view on line 4-4 of Fi re 2, and

igure 5 is a vertical longitudinal sectional dew on line 5'-5 of Figure3 When'in operation.

56 Referring to Figure 1- of the 'drawin the reference numeral 1designates gen y a motor vehicle having an engine 2. In the eqgippedwith. the ordinary vacuum eed system com rising a vacuum tank 3 which isconnecte to the fuel supply (not shown) by means of a pipe 4. The fuelis drawn into the vacuum tank in the usual manner present instance, Ihave shown the en 'ne by suction existing in the tank and createdthrough the medium of connectin pipe 5, connected to the intake manifoldin the usual manner. The engine is provided with acarburetor 6. i

; A meter casin 7 is arranged between the carburetor and the vacuumtank, being connected to the vacuum tank by a .pipe 8 and the carburetorby a pipe 9. The top ofthe .meter casing is connected .to the vacuumxpipe 5 by a pipe 9.

Referring to Figures 2 to 5 of the drawings, the metercasing comprises asubstantially rectangular upper portion having a.

rounded extension 10 at the bottom and rovided with a well 11 at theinletend w ich is connected to the pipe 8, as shown. The casing is alsoprovided with an outlet 12, connected to the pipe 9. As shown, a

branch pipe 13 is connected to the pipe 8 .of the walls'are s need fromeach other a greater distance t an the lower portions. A rotor 18 isarranged in the lower portion. of the meter casing. As shown, the rotorconsists of a hollow drum which is reintively light and buoyant. The.rotor is mounted ona shaft 19 which is provided with substantiallyfrictionless bearings-20,

such as Lewel bearings. In assembling the device, e top 21 of the casingis removed and the rotor lowered into the casing. The shaft is thenpassed through'from one side,

through bearing portion 22 of the shaft,

and tie bearings arranged upon its ends;

Suitable caps 23' are then arranged on the. I

opposite ends of the shaft over the bearlades 24 are secured tothe perihery of the rotor in any suitable manner extend outwardly therefrom.These blades are provided with packing on their outer edges and similarpacking 26 on their sides.-

The rotor is likewlse provided with circunr ing transversely, frictionbetween the packing strips 26 and the side walls is removed duringone-half of the revolution of each blade, when the blade is in thatportion of the casing ,where no liquid is present. It

will be further noted from an inspection of Figures 2 and 5 of thedrawings that the axis of the rotor is arranged above the liquid levelfurther reducing friction and that the blades pass through the body ofliquid only during a portion of their revolu tion.

The flow of li uid from the pipe 8 to the well 11 is contro ed by avalve 28 engaging a valve seat 29 arranged on the end of the inlet pipe.This valve is provided with a valve stem 30 which asses upwardly throughopenings in suitable 'des. 31 and 32, secured to the wall ofe casin Afloat 33 is arranged in the well an this float is provided with a in34ada ted to be received in a slot 35 curred in t e end of a lever 36.As shown, the lever is pivoted at 37 on a bracket 38, carried By'thewall of the casing. The opposite end of the lever is provided with aslot 39 adapted to receive a. pin 40, carried by the.valve'stem. Theflow of liquid into the casing is adapted to be cut oif approximately atthe timewhen it reaches the level. shown in F' 2 and 5 of the drawings,and as this level is higher than the oint t1, the top of the outletopening, the quid w1ll flow by gravity throughthe meter to the outlet 0revolving the rotor in the direction indicated by the arrow. The meteris arran with itsinletend toward the.front.o the vehicle, as

shown in Figure 1 of the dra and when up-hill, fie inlet end .thevehicleis travel will be higher than t e outlet end so that a free flowof fuel to the carburetoris asi and inthe outlet 12 respectivel whichr-- mit fuel .to pe Leeann late 44; is arr ed beneath these openin s,orming a cham er 45 through which t e fuel passes.

As stated, anysuitable means may be employed for registering'therevolutions of the rotor and thus registering the consumption of fuel.The amount of fuel which-must be fed through the meter casing to cause acomplete revolution of the rotor may be computed and the meter ispreferably dimen sioned and designed to make a revolution for each unitof fuel passing thcrethrough. The registering mechanism 46 may bemounted on the instrument board 47 of the vehicle near the drivers seatto permit inspection at all times.

In operation, fuel is drawn from the fuel supply (not shown) through thevacuum tank 3 in the usual manner. Thence it passes through pipe 8 tothe meter casing, through the meter casing and pipe 9' to the carburetor6. If the meter should. be out of order, or if the operator of thevehicle desires to disconnect the meter for any reason, the valve 14isopened and the fuel is by-passed through the pipe 13 to the outlet 12of -the meter. The level of the fuel in the meter is controlled by float33.. When the level rises, the float swings the lever 36 on its ivot'andcloses valve 29. When the level 0 fuel at the inlet end'ofthe meter islower than the point 41 at the outlet end of the meter, the valve isopen, and'fuelflows through-the meter by gravity. The blades 24; snuglyengage the bottom 10 of the curved portion of the meter casing and theside walls 15 and'the rotor 18 is thusrevolved by the passage of fuelthrough the meter casing. As stated, when the vehicle is travelindown-hill and the level of fuel has a ten ency to lower at the outletend of thekeep the-engme running with the light load on 1t will passthrough the chamber 44 to the pipe 9, through openings 42 and 43.

The rotor 1s arranged to pass thro h the fuel only during a portion of.its revo ution the fuel level controlled as descri and the axis of' erotor being above the fuel level. This reduces friction and at the sametime submerges-suflicient of the rotor to always have two blades in theIll fuel so that the rotor will be revolved The rotor is mounted on'e'w'el as do! scribed to reduce friction andtheup v move contactbetween the ackmgstr1 ps26an 27 and'thewidew the meter casing is widensto rel2 ings, so that the entire surface ofjthe blade is not fromcontact with the surface 10 as ltpass'es the point 41 at the sameinstant. would tend 'to create a vacuum which may interfere with thesccurate o eration of the meter, but by inclining the 'lades, one edgeof the blade reaches the point 41 before t e other edge and the bladegradually passes thispoint.

It is to beunderstood that the forms of my invention herewith shown anddescribed are to be taken as preferred examples of the same, and thatvarious changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may beresorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or thescope of the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. The combination with an internal combustion engine including anintake manifold, of a meter casing, inlet and outlet conduits connectedto said casing, said inlet conduit being connected to a source of fuelsupply, an inlet valve controlling passage of uel through said inletconduit, a rotor mounted in said casing and dividing it into an inletside and an outlet side, a register connected to said rotor, a floatcontrolling said inlet valve to maintain the level of the fuel in theinlet side of said casing higher than the level in the outlet side, anda conduit establishing communication between the intake manifold of theen ine and the interior ofsaid casing above t e level of the fueltherein.

2. A meter for determining fuel consumption of internal combustionengines comprising a casing adapted to be arranged in the fuel feedline, said casing having parallel side walls and a bottom wall providedwith a curved portion and being provided with an inlet opening and anoutlet opening, an automatic valve arranged in said inlet opening tomaintain a substantially constant liquid level, a rotor comprisin ahollow drum r0- tatably mounted in sai casing, blades carried by saidrotor, packing arranged on the outer edges of said blades and adapted toengage the curved portion of the bottom of the meter casing, and packingarranged on the sides of said blades and adapted to enga e the sidewalls of the casing.

11 testimony whereof, I afiix my signature.

' JOHN HENRY 'WIGGINS.

